updated 04:40 pm EDT, Thu June 9, 2011

Nyko Zoom for Kinect tested at E3

We had the opportunity to quickly try Nyko's Zoom for Kinect at E3. The add-on is very simple at its heart and refocuses the Xbox 360 motion controller's cameras to a closer distance. While it hadn't been fully explained in the release, Nyko at the show believed it could properly track two players in about the same distance it would take a regular Kinect to show one. A single player on the Zoom should get over a foot closer to the screen, a definite plus for an apartment.

Sure enough, the demo system played Kinect games properly, without tracking glitches. We couldn't take photos during the session itself, for obvious reasons, but the Zoom definitely got us close. Admittedly, this was an ideal, brightly lit booth (with bright red wigs given to every player) that would make it easy to follow along, but the differences were still clear and earned a tentative thumbs up.

The real question is the release: Nyko hasn't been definite on when the Zoom would ship or for how much. We'd expect it to cost $30 or less given that it's largely a clip-on device.